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I agree with IHIVG. I would use sentence number 1, assuming that you want to use the quotation marks. As Gillnetter points out, you may also write it without the quotation marks, but the meaning is a bit different. I believe you are emphasizing the fact that the person in question actually spoke the word "why."

The problem has to do with where to place the question mark, inside the quotation mark or outside? Notice that in the sentence above I put the period inside the quotation mark. That is common in this situation.

However, your sentence includes a complete sentence ("Why?) uttered by someone else. In that case I would put the question mark on the outside.

These are fine points, however. You could probably get away with either 1. or 2. But perhaps there are others on this forum who have a different understanding of the punctuation rules.

Re: Punctuation

Did you read the link I provided? It answers this exact question and says to put the question mark with the quoted question and to let that serve for the entire sentence-as-a-question as well. It's not my rule - I'm just quoting others. It, in turn, cites New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage

I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

Re: Punctuation

Originally Posted by Barb_D

Did you read the link I provided? It answers this exact question and says to put the question mark with the quoted question and to let that serve for the entire sentence-as-a-question as well. It's not my rule - I'm just quoting others. It, in turn, cites New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage

Re: Punctuation

Just as a personal note, I think all these rules are somewhat arbitrary. It's simply what is use the most often that becomes "the preferred style."

I've said dozens of time, if it doesn't interfere with your meaning or make it harder for your reader to understand, then whatever you come up with is probably going to be fine. I just dug in my heels a bit because I found a different answer on the very same Web site cited previously. If someone found another source entirely with a conflicting answer, I'd say "Fair enough - different styles."

I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.